They're back!!! (Serenity (DVD))

Member Name: xxsaxonyxx

Product:	Serenity (DVD)
Date:	29/03/06 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Its a great end to a great series.

Disadvantages: None

After spending a week watching Firefly I finished the show by watching Serenity. Firefly was cancelled after only one season but what a season that was! Fans were gutted as was Joss Whedon the director of the show when the final episode rolled out. They refused to settle and as a result Serenity was revealed.

Serenity contains all the original characters of the show, Mal, Zoe, Wash, Inara, Jayne, Simon, Kaylee and of course River.

SETTING

Serenity is set in space, a solar system that was home to humans from Earth after Earth became too overcrowded. it’s a strange mix of spaceships and cities and old western style villages and planets. A mix that I found works very well. Most of the movie takes place in Mals ship, a Firefly by the name of Serenity hence the name for both the series and the film.

THE PLOT

The show begins with the rescue of River, at some point between the end of the first series and the beginning of the film she is taken away and subjected to strange experiments and other top secret projects. Simon as always will not rest until he knows his sister is safe.
Back aboard the ship however things are not going well between Mal and Simon and they finally crack, its time for the siblings to make their own way in the world.

Unfortunately they don’t get that far and we see what River’s true strengths are. She is a weapon and one that is unpredictable and dangerous even to her brother and the crew. Mal knows there’s much more to it and realises that the Alliance are hiding something but what? River is the key and the Alliance knows it. They make it their mission to seek out and bring River back.

Mal has no chance against the Alliance and needs to find somewhere to hide, the only option is Reaver territory. These monsters are humans gone wrong, they are crazed, desperate humans that seek out and eat other humans alive. Once again they discover there is more to the Reavers than first suspected and slowly piece by piece Mal and the crew stumble upon more truths. If they are going to succeed they need to expose the truth by any means possible, even if it takes their life.

OVERALL

I loved this film, it was great to see all the characters again. The visual effects were stunning as was the story line and music. I was saddened at the loss of several characters though , I’d been travelling with them through their story now for so long and felt as though I knew them all.

The film itself held onto the quirky humour that was present during the series. Mal and Inara still trying to convince themselves they don’t like each other, Kaylee and Simon always on the verge of romance but never getting there. Jayne, butch and stupid but funny as always. Wash and Zoe the oddest couple in the universe and of course River who steals the show in this film. When she fights its almost like a bizarre dance, she really makes the action scenes memorable.

I would recommend this film to everyone however I strongly recommend watching Firefly first. The film does stand on its own but I feel that you get a better sense of what’s going on with River and Simon through the series. It also lets you get to know everybody. The film does sort of jump in at the deep end and some references are made to the series.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Outtakes, always a big hit with me, a great gag real of all the unfortunate mistakes during the making of the film.
Commentary with Joss Whedon.
Deleted scenes.
Future History- the story of earth that was.
What’s in a Firefly, this is interesting, its shows us how they designed the ship and how they made it resemble a firefly.
Re-lighting the Firefly, another interesting piece telling us how after the first and only season of Firefly they got all the fans together and rallied to get the movie underway.
A film-makers journey.

STATS

Rated 15 because of strong violence.

Website that helped in getting the film together. www.browncoats.com

Summary: The crew are back and their in it up to their knees.